This is Your Time
by Lia06
Summary: Miracle Herb’s stepdaughter, Anna, comes in as the team manager. She inspires and confuses the guys at the same time. She also manages to win a few hearts on the road to Lake Placid.
1. Chapter 1

Title: This is Your Time

Author: Lia06

Rating: T

Summary: Herb's stepdaughter, Anna, comes in as the team manager. She inspires and confuses the guys at the same time. She also manages to win a few hearts on the road to Lake Placid.

Pairing: Jack O'Callahan/Anna O'Leary-Brooks

Disclaimer: I do not own _Miracle_ and I never have.

**Chapter One**

**Anna's POV**

This was not going to work. Most of these guys were from Minnesota and Boston; they hated each other. I could have told you Herb Brooks was nuts but that wouldn't have done any good. He wouldn't have listened to me. He didn't care what I thought; I was just his daughter.

Well, sort of…see, I'm Herb's wife's daughter from her first marriage. So, I'm Herb's stepdaughter, but he's been the closest thing I've had to a dad since I was about five. So I grew up around the Minnesota hockey team and the ice. But I was not allowed to date the hockey players. But as the father of my best friend once said, "If you tell your children not to date, they'll do it anyway and just call it something else." Herb clearly never got that memo. In my four years of college I managed to date three different hockey players while telling Herb that we were just friends. Luckily, I happen to really be friends with all of those guys now.

I have a younger sister who is three years younger than me and she also dated hockey players while telling Herb that the guys were "just really good friends." Well, she got a reputation and we'll say people don't talk about her as a nice, sweet, adorable, wonderful girl. She also earned the hatred of most of the guys on the Minnesota hockey team. Those guys are like brothers and if you hurt one of them, they'll all try to kill you.

Thankfully, those guys still loved me. Take Robin McClanahan-more commonly known as Rob, Robbie, or Mac. He's my best friend; we met in first grade and we are now inseparable. Two years ago, Robbie and my little sister Abby-full name: Abigail Patricia O'Leary-Brooks-dated for a few months. Abby broke Robbie's heart when he found out that she was cheating on him with some other guy; we'll get to him later. I was the one who had to scrap Robbie off the floor after he found out about Abby and the other guy. He was drunk for three days and I lied to Herb about where he was. I took care of him and I told him that he wasn't a complete fool. Rob and I are close. Any guy who looks twice at me has to go through my "big brother" Robbie.

I don't live with Herb and my mom anymore. I got my own apartment the summer before my junior year of college. I lived there with my friends Gayle and Lisa for about two years. Gayle and Lisa both moved out and I got a new roommate this spring; it's my best friend, Rosemary. Our apartment is a quiet, happy place. Our only regular visitors are my mom, my half-sister Kelly-full name: Kelly Elizabeth Brooks, and Rosemary's boyfriend, Jeff Pierce. Rob also comes over for dinner at least once a week but only when I'm cooking. Rosemary can't cook worth a hill of beans and Jeff has been trying to find a nice way to tell her that for the past year and a half.

Herb and Danny rarely come by, but that's all right. I go home for dinner every Sunday. And I was my dad's team manager all through college. Abby-well, I rarely see her and that's the way I like her. She has a penchant for getting into trouble and I'm sick of watching her hurt the people I love the most. The most I see her is every month or so she'll show up at Mom and Herb's for dinner. She'll do just about anything to get a warm meal and a few hundred dollars.

And today, I get to go to my first practice for the US Olympic hockey team of 1980. I'm going to be late because I told Mom I'd take Kelly to ballet but Herb knows what's going on. Or at least I think he does.

**Jack's POV**

This is it. Today I begin the quest of my dream-an Olympic medal. I've loved hockey for as long as I can remember. It's in my blood or something. I started playing hockey when I was five or so. I played pee-wee, in high school, and in college. I went to Boston University on a hockey scholarship, but if we'd had the money, I probably could have gone to Harvard. But Harvard is not my kind of place. I might be smart, but I like to have fun. And I love to play hockey.

Playing on the Olympic team is a dream come true. I get to play for Herb Brooks and I get to play with three of my closest friends-Jimmy Craig, Mike Eruzione, and Dave Silk. And the fact that my arch-enemy, Rob McClanahan, is on the team? Well, I've still got to settle that score. This is going to be a long, exhilarating road. And I'm going to make the most of it.

My plan was to win the gold medal and prove it to the world that I was a great hockey player. I was going to work my way into the NHL and make sure that my family was financially secure for the rest of their lives. And if I got to date a few chicks along the way that would just be the icing on the cake. I love ladies and they seem to love me too. Girls could only make this adventure more exciting.

Within the first few hours of practice, I managed to get into a fight with Rob McClanahan. Yep, that's me; I'm always the first one to drop my gloves and throw a punch. So, we traded a few punches and then got yelled at by Herb; oh yeah, this is going to be great.

But that wasn't the big deal. Herb started having us introduce ourselves to each other and Ralph Cox had just finished introducing himself when someone new skated onto the ice. The person was wearing blue jeans, a long-sleeved black top, a brown hat, and white figure skates; this was a girl. She was carrying a large black purse and she had dark brown curls spilling out from underneath the hat. "Herb," she yelled. "I've got the stuff you asked me to pick up."

"Where is it?" he yelled back.

"It's on your desk in your office," was her reply. "Where else do you think I'd put it? I'm not stupid; I know how you like things."

I heard one of the Minnesota guys mumble something about "of course she knows how he likes things. She's lived in the same house as him since she was eight years old." Now I was wondering. Who was this girl? And what was she doing here?

"Thank you, Anna," Herb said as she skated up next to him.

"No problem," the girl-Anna, I guess-replied. "Now is there anything else you'd like me to do? Or can I go sit at your desk and file my nails now?"

"Go get Rob cleaned up and then check my messages for me. If there are any calls you can handle, do it for me."

She looked at McClanahan for the first time. "What happened to you, Mac? Did you finally meet your match? Or have you been screwing around in bars again?"

"I punched him," I said, trying to sound as arrogant as I could. I wasn't sure why but I wanted her to think of me as arrogant.

She grinned at me. "Ah ha, you must be Jack O'Callahan," she said slowly, enunciating each syllable. "I've heard of you. At last we finally meet. I'll have to talk to you later." As she said "later" she patted my cheek and gave me a look. I knew immediately that I had not seen the last of her-whoever she was.

After practice we all rushed to the locker rooms. We couldn't get in the ice baths fast enough. "So who is she?" Rizzo asked as we began to throw our clothes everywhere.

"She's Herb's stepdaughter," Buzz Schneider said.

"Her name is Anna O'Leary-Brooks," Phil Verchota added. "Her mom married Herb when Anna was eight and she's grown up on the ice. She's one of Herb's two stepdaughters. Anna's awesome, but if you ever meet Abby, you should stay the hell away from her. She's trouble."

"But whatever Abby is, Anna is an amazing skater," Mike Ramsey continued, "She could probably have made it to the Olympics for figure skating if it weren't for the fact that she has another goal in mind."

"What's that?" Jimmy asked.

Buzz sighed and Phil laughed. "You'll think I'm just another stupid girl," a feminine voice said from behind us.

We all turned and looked. Anna O'Leary-Brooks stood there. She was gorgeous. She was probably about five foot six or so and slender-proof of the life of figure skating she'd lived. She had curly dark brown hair that was now pulled up in a ponytail. She had eyes that were as blue as the noon sky. "Where's Rob?" she asked looking around the room.

"He's in the shower," Phil told her. "But maybe I can help you."

Anna went over to Verchota and wrapped her left arm around his shoulder while she stroked his cheek with her right hand. She leaned in really close to him and looked deep in his eyes. "I doubt it, Philly boy. There are a lot of things you can do, but none of them involve satisfying my appetite. I also doubt that you'd be willing to pay for pizza and beer at Mario's."

All the other Minnesota boys laughed as she spun away from Verchota and waltzed over to me. (Okay, so she didn't really waltz but she was so graceful in the way she moved, that it seemed like she was dancing.) "And you, Mr. O'Callahan, I've got a score to settle with you," she said poking me in the chest. "See; no one makes McClanahan bleed except for me. And I've got to know why on earth you felt the need to make sure that Rob's blood is just as red as yours."

I just stared at her for a moment. I'd never met anyone quite like her. She didn't seem to be afraid of anyone and I'd never seen that in a girl before. But I wasn't going to let her know that she intimidated me. I was going to keep her a distance because I didn't know what else to do with her. Anna O'Leary-Brooks was the first girl I'd ever met in my life who scared me.

**Anna's POV**

Jack O'Callahan was arrogant. I could tell that right off. He needed someone to tone him down a few notches and show him his real place in the world. But that wasn't going to be me. I was going to treat this guy the same way I treated all the other guys. We could be friends-once he grew up.

But the truth was something about Jack scared me. I knew that he was always the first one to drop his gloves and throw a punch. But I also knew that he really was one of the best hockey players on the team. He seemed to be very sure of himself and acted as if he was afraid of nothing. He reminded me of someone I was very close to. I couldn't quite explain how, but he reminded me of Herb.

And he still hadn't answered me. So I looked straight into those big blue eyes and said, "Jack O'Callahan, please tell me this is not still about 1976. If it is, you are the stupidest person I had ever met in my entire life. And I have met some real idiots. Just tell me this isn't about 1976 and we can all be friends for the next seven months."

He smiled at me, like he was trying to charm a snake. And then his eyes flashed down to his feet. He wouldn't look at me anymore and I sighed. "You have got to be shitting me. Rob, let me know when you're done and we can head out to Mario's for pizza."

"Anna, have you seen Gayle recently?" Buzz asked as I headed for the door.

"I'm going to see her when we get to Mario's," I replied with a grin. "And you're coming to, Buzzy. Philly, Rammer, you'd better be coming too. Oh, heck, anyone who wants to come can come with us. Just be ready in fifteen minutes."

"Rosemary's cooking again?" Philly asked.

"Why else would I be so eager to go out to dinner?"

I headed out of the room and went to wait in the lobby. I really did want to go out for dinner purely because Rosemary was cooking. I love her; she's an awesome person. But she CANNOT cook. When I left the apartment she was making what she claimed was tuna noodle casserole but if you asked me, it was rancid oatmeal with tuna.

The first guy to come out into the lobby was Jack O'Callahan. He went and stood in a dark corner of the lobby where he wouldn't have to talk to me. I just stood there with my purse and a box filled with psychological tests that Herb had given the boys. See, I have a bachelor's degree in psychology and I'm going to start working on my master's in September. I'll just take a few night classes until the Olympics are over. But once the Olympics are over, I'm going to work my butt off and get that master's. I'm going to use the money I earn from being the team manager to pay for my school.

The next guy to come out was Philly. Phil Verchota and I went out for about nine months. We split up when we realized that we were NOT meant to be together. So we broke up but we're still friends. Phil still likes to propose to me for fun every now and then. Well, Phil is nuts and that's one of the things I love about him.

So I was standing there when Phil came up to me and got down on one knee in front of me. He looked up at me and smiled. "Anna Rose O'Leary-Brooks, will you do me the greatest honor of my life and become my wife?"

I smiled at him and kissed the top of his head. "Philip, I love you with all that I am and I'm very honored that you would even consider me as your wife. But we've been through this many times before. It would never work between you and me. I'm very sorry, darling."

Phil jumped up and hugged me. "Well, thank you for at least considering me. So, we're going to Mario's? Do they still have that really, really gorgeous blonde waitress?"

I smiled at him and I heard Jack O'Callahan chuckle. "Yep, she's still there. Her name is Maggie and she's twenty-one."

"You know you're amazing. You find out who I like and then you find out what you can do to arrange things for me. I'll see you at Mario's."

"You should probably wait. We should carpool so we can save money on gas. Plus the Boston boys don't know how to get to Mario's."

"You don't need to take us with you," Jack said from his corner. "We are capable of finding our own food."

"Really?" I asked. "So you know where to get pizza? You know where you can order out from around here? Or are you going to refuse to let us give you some help just because you're from Boston and we're from Minnesota? You would rather eat the really gross food in the school cafeteria than ask for help from us Minnesota folk? You're going to have to put up with us for the next seven months. Get over yourself. Just let us give you some help getting to know the Twin Cities area. I promise it'll be worthwhile. If nothing else, you'll get to eat some of the best pizza in Minnesota."

Jack walked over to me and looked at me. "You're really something you know that. Fine, I'll go have pizza with you Minnesotans. I guess I'll have to learn to put up with you at some point."

"Good," I replied. "I'm not asking you to be Rob's best friend or to fall in love with a Minnesota girl. I'm not asking you to stay here for the rest of your life. I'm just asking you to get along with us and not throw anymore punches at your teammates."

Phil looked at me and gasped. "Wow, someone's got to tell your parents they didn't waste all that money they spent on your college tuition."

I smiled at him. "Oh, Philly, remind me to go over to the dorms after dinner and post the roommate assignments."

"Roommate assignments?" Jack asked.

"Yep, you didn't think Herb or the University would let you guys each have your own rooms, did you? That wouldn't help you bond with your teammates very well, now would it?"

Jack shrugged. "I guess not."

Just then, someone came up behind me and put his hands over my eyes. Then he kissed my cheek and whispered, "Baby, you're all that I want out of life. Say you'll be mine forever and come with me to my bed. Then we'll make our love child before we get married."

"Hey, Rob, how are you?" I said spinning around and looking into the eyes of my best friend. Well, Rosemary is my best girl friend but Rob is my best friend in the world. I just can't stay up late at night eating ice cream out of the carton and talking about guys with him. Okay, so technically I could but if I did that, he would probably end up smearing ice cream all over my face.

"Everyone's pretty much ready to head out for dinner now," Rob said. "I was thinking we should carpool to the restaurant."

I smiled at him. "I was thinking the same thing."

"Great minds think alike," he replied.

"If you say so," I told him. "I was thinking we should take people's station wagons. They all seat ten people each and so we could take three cars and that would make gas a lot less expensive."

"All right then," he said. "Who has station wagons?"

"I do, you do, and I think Bah has one."

"Righto," he said. "Just don't make me drive O'Callahan. We might not all make it home tonight alive if he and I have to spend that much time in close quarters."

Bah came over. "I'd like to have people who get along in my car, so I'd rather not have O'Callahan in my car."

"Fine," I sighed. "I'll take O'Callahan. Just give me eight other people and we get go get food."

So I ended up with O'Callahan, Auge, Suter, Baker, Christian, Rizzo, Silky, and Craig in my car. That was interesting. There wasn't really anyone who hated anyone else in the car but those guys definitely didn't have a lot in common. Suter, Baker, Christian, and Auge settled themselves in my trunk along with the boxes of psychology tests. "Do you have to grade all these tests?" Baker asked me.

I shook my head. "I have to read all of them but I don't have to grade them, per say."

So we went to Mario's. Philly flirted with Maggie all night. I spent most of the night joking with the guys. Pizza and beer loosened the guys' tongues and the walls between Boston and Minnesota were falling down rapidly. OC and Mac were still distant from each other but I couldn't expect them to become best friends over night. But at least they weren't picking up their butter knives and trying to stab each other in the heart. This at least was progress.

The last thing I did before heading home that night was drop the boys off at the dorms and post the room assignments. I hoped Herb knew what he was doing because some of these guys were not going to like him very much after they saw this list.

Roommates Roster (as men are eliminated, this will be edited.)

201 Auge Broten

202 Delich Craig

203 Cox Verchota

204 Hughes Strobel

205 Ross Morrow

206 Horsch Schneider

207 Janaszak Silk

208 Pavelich Eruzione

209 Johnson Christian

210 Christoff Harrington

301 Baker Ramsey

302 Suter Wells

303 McClanahan O'Callahan

Those last two were going to hate this. There could be blood by morning. I doubted that the four other guys on the third floor would be likely to stop

**Jack's POV**

I stood there staring at the list. This had to be some sort of a joke. Herb could not be serious, but everyone else was heading to their rooms, so I picked up my bags and headed up to room 301. The door was open and I saw Mac throwing a bag at one of the beds. I'll admit these dorm rooms were nicer than the hotel I'd stayed in the night before, but I didn't have to stay with Rob McClanahan in the hotel.

"Hey," I mumbled as I walked into the room.

"You can pick which bunk you want," he said. "I don't care."

"I'll take the bottom bunk," I told him. I'd always had the top one growing up because my little brother Patrick is scared of heights.

"Works for me," he replied.

Neither of us said another word the rest of the night.

A/N: So let me know what you think. I'm looking for a beta, so let me know if you're interested. I've been out of the Miracle loop for awhile so it might be a bit bad.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Thanks to all my reviewers. You guys are awesome. I'm so sorry that this took forever to get up. I've been busy.

And I must say a huge "THANK YOU" to my beta-Emador.

**Chapter 2**

**Jack's POV**

When I woke up the next morning, Rob was already up and gone. There was a note on the door from him informing me that he was down in the building's kitchen helping Anna make breakfast for the team. He suggested that I shower before heading downstairs as Anna did not like smelling "icky boys". So I took a quick shower and headed down to the kitchen. It was easy to find once I started following my nose and the smell of sausage, bacon, and eggs. In the kitchen, I found Anna, Rob, Buzz Schneider and a short woman with long light brown hair. She was introduced to me as Gayle Schneider, "Buzzy's wife, not his sister," Anna added.

"Everyone else should be down eventually," Buzzy told me. "I had an early morning meeting with Herb and then Gayle met me here."

Mac clapped Buzzy on the shoulder. "This guy is moving out of the dorms."

"I'm only going to campus married housing," Schneider protested.

"Yep, and Morrow will be joining you in August," Anna said. "So in August, Ross and Horsch will be moving in together."

"And Horsch will be rooming solo until then," Gayle said. "Because I need my man by my side."

"But I'll still be rooming with Horsch for things like the Sweden trip," her husband pointed out.

"I'll have to warn him about your snoring."

"I do not snore!" Buzzy protested.

Anna rolled her eyes and looked at me. "Hey, O'Callahan, you want to help me with the eggs?"

I walked over. "Sure, what do you want me to do?"

"Cut those onions," she ordered. As I looked at her, I realized that she looked really tired.

"How much sleep did you get last night?" I asked her as I started slicing onions.

Anna shrugged as she wiped a loose strand of hair out of her eyes. "I'm not really sure. My roommate and her boyfriend were having a fight in the living room all night."

Mac looked up. "Were they fighting about her cooking again?"

She smiled. "What else would they fight about? Last night, they were fighting about who would do the cooking if they were ever to get married."

"Did the lady down the hall call the police again?"

"Yep," Anna said with a nod. "The police showed up around four and I had to talk to them for about an hour. That's the fifth time in the past two months I've had to explain to the cops that Jeff isn't beating Rosemary; they just fight really loudly."

I looked at her. "You know we have a couch in our room that one of us could sleep on if you're ever interested."

Mac nodded. "Yeah, if you ever want, Jack or I could sleep on the couch and you could sleep on the bed."

"Wow," Anna said. "That's really nice of you guys. I don't know how my dad would feel about that. He's really strict about my relationships with players."

"I'm not saying you should start dating one of us. I'm saying you should sleep in Jack's bed while he sleeps on the couch. That way both you will get some sleep."

I looked at my roommate. "Are you saying that I'm going to be giving her my bed? What if she prefers the top bunk? Then what are you going to do?"

"Steal your bed," Rob replied. "And by the way, you're crying."

"It's the damn onions," I snapped.

"Watch your language, O'Callahan. There's a lady present. Oh, and Anna's here too. She doesn't like it when people swear."

Anna sighed. "Are you trying to insinuate that I'm not a lady? I am a lady, Robin McClanahan. And I happen hate it when you try to insinuate otherwise."

"Well, look at yourself. You don't exactly look like a girl or anything."

I looked at Anna. She was wearing a pair of baggy jeans and a large burgundy sweatshirt that had MINNESOTA printed across the chest in big gold letters. Her hair was in a messy ponytail and she was wearing a pair of dirty sneakers. She didn't look like she was ready to go to a dance or anything but she looked comfortable. And she looked like she was going to cry. "I don't look like a girl, Robin? Then what do I look like? Can you tell me that?" she wiped something out of her eye. "You've been telling me that for years. Do I look like a boy? What do you think I am?"

"You look like you. I'm not saying it's a bad thing. You just never put any effort into looking like a girl. I mean even when you've got a boyfriend, you still never dress up or do anything special with your hair or wear make-up. It's like you don't care what you look like or what other people think of you. You're my best friend, Anna, but I just don't get you. It's like you don't care about yourself at all anymore. You could be so pretty."

I winced for Anna. That had to hurt; hearing your best friend tell you that you could be so pretty had to be painful. And then I heard Anna's hand crack across Mac's face right before she rushed out of the kitchen.

Everyone in the kitchen just stood there for a minute. "Well, someone's got to go after her," Gayle said.

"It's not going to be me," Mac replied immediately.

"I'll get to work on breakfast," Buzzy said. "Gayle, I might need some help from you."

"I guess I should go try to find her," I said quietly.

How are you supposed to find someone in a building you know nothing about when the person you're looking for knows the building like the back of her hand? She could have been anywhere. I had no clue where to start looking. So I just started walking. And I found her on the second floor. Rizzo had her. "Do you know what's bothering her?" he asked me as I approached him.

I nodded. "Mac was being a moron. He wasn't thinking and he said something stupid."

"Okay, I walked out of my room, and she came flying down the hall. I managed to catch her but she won't tell me what's wrong."

"Yeah," I said, rubbing her back. Then lightning struck my brain as Bah Harrington and Dave Silk came walking down the hall. "Bah, can you run down to the kitchen and tell Gayle Schneider we need to talk to her in Rizzo's room?"

He gave me a funny look and then took off towards the kitchen. Rizzo looked at me. "Are we having a meeting in my room?"

"Yep, I need everyone who can be there, but I don't want Mac there. I have an idea but I don't want him to know what's going."

Anna looked at me. "Does it involve me?"

I nodded. "Yep, we're going to mess with Rob's mind."

She leaned her head up against Rizzo's shoulder and smiled at me. "This could be fun. I like messing with Rob's mind."

Rizzo shepherded her into his room where Pav was sitting on his bed putting on his socks. "What's going on?" he asked.

"Do you feel like messing with Rob McClanahan's mind?" I asked him.

"Sure, what are you doing and when?"

"Wait and hear. It's a long story and it's semi-complicated. It might take us a few months to carry out, but revenge will be Anna's."

I thought I saw a smile flash across Anna's face, but I couldn't be sure. A few minutes later, we had about half the team gathered in Pav and Rizzo's room. Gayle Schneider looked at me. "Okay, what's going on?"

I grinned mischievously.

**Anna's POV**

I was leaning against Rizzo's shoulder when Jack grinned mischievously and said, "We're going to make Anna so gorgeous that Rob won't know who she is."

I looked at him. I knew people didn't think of me as pretty. I guess that was mostly my fault. I preferred to wear jeans and a sweatshirt while other girls liked to get dressed up. I'd had a few boyfriends over the years so I always figured that people were fine with the way I looked. But every now and then I'd hear comments about how "Anna Brooks must think she's a boy." And after hearing my best friend say that I "could be beautiful" and I "don't care about myself at all anymore" I was starting to believe everything I'd been hearing.

Maybe I wasn't trying hard enough. I had three outfits that I rotated around when dressing for church and hockey games. The rest of my wardrobe consisted of jeans, t-shirts, sweatshirts, and sneakers. Oh, but rest assured that I do own socks and underwear. I hadn't really spent a lot of money on new clothes since I started college. Maybe now that I was working for my dad and the USOC, I should buy some new clothes. It would probably help if I didn't go out in public wearing clothes that really don't fit me. One thing I should make clear is that my chest is umm, how should I put this? My chest is larger than the average woman's. Maybe my friends and these guys could help me make over my wardrobe and hairstyle and such. Maybe it was time for me to grow up my look.

"Gayle, we're going to need some help from you on this," Jack said interrupting my interior monologue.

"Sure thing," my friend replied. "And if you want, I can get some of Anna's other friends to help too."

"That'd be great," Rizzo said. "We'd love it if we could get some help from some ladies; we men don't know that much about fashion."

"Well, I'll bring in some people who can help turn her into a princess," Gayle told him with a smile. "By December, we could have transformed Miss Anna into someone that Rob would never recognize in a million years."

"But I'll still be me won't I?" I asked.

"Oh yeah," Jack said like it was the simplest thing on earth. "We're not going to change your personality, just your hairstyle and clothes. Oh, and we'll introduce you to make-up."

I smiled and leaned my head against Rizzo's shoulder. "Okay," I said; I knew I didn't sound quite sure of myself. "I guess I can let you guys take off with your crazy plan."

Jack smiled. "We'll make Rob eat his words."

After breakfast, the guys had a few hours of strength training and conditioning. Then came lunch and after lunch, they finally hit the ice to skate. Herb was working those boys to death. And I hated to watch them suffer so much. Well, okay, I was getting some pleasure out of watching Rob suffer. I was still mad at him even though I did think that Jack's plan was amazing and I really did hope it would work.

I looked at myself as I sat in Herb's office. I was wearing a pair of jeans, okay they WERE old jeans I'd had since like tenth grade, but I liked them and they still fit. I was also wearing an old gray t-shirt that I loved. It was kind of tight around the chest, but it was mine and it didn't like disastrous. Okay, so the shirt made my chest REALLY obvious but whatever…

I've dressed like this for years. I used to try to in fashion and all that back in elementary school and middle school. I even did a little in high school, but when I started spending all my time helping Herb out with the hockey team, I just gave it up. It was too much work. I still got a prom date and all, so I figured guys didn't care that much. And in some ways, I think a lot of guys don't care. I mean I've had boyfriends and all, so some guys must not care. But maybe guys would like to see a girl put a little bit of effort into the way she looks.

I looked at the pile of papers and folders on the desk. It was filled with scouting information about these guys. I pulled out Rob's folder. He had been playing hockey since he was a little boy and he was a very talented hockey player. He'd known me for years. I guess he must have been right about my looks though. I probably should start putting more effort into them.

Towards the end of practice, I was standing by the locker room with some things I needed to give to the guys. Suddenly Gayle Schneider came up next to me with a bag from JC Penny. "Give me the keys to your car," she demanded.

"Hello to you too," I said turning to look at her. "How are you?

"I'm fine; it's great to see you. Now PLEASE give me your keys," she demanded holding out her hand. "I need to throw this bag in your car before Rob gets here."

"What's in the bag?" I asked as I pulled my keys out of my pocket. "Go do whatever you want to do. But you have to explain this all to me later."

She took the keys. "Sure, fine, I'll tell you all about it while we make dinner. But right now I've got to take care of your new duds-which I'll tell you about later."

I sighed. "Fine, have fun. By the way, we're having spaghetti for dinner tonight. It's easy and you can make a lot of it."

"So we'll be safe feeding it to the guys," she said as she walked away. "We'll talk then; I promise."

Gayle Nichols-Schneider was not normally like this. She was normally a very open and friendly person. But she was clearly up to something tonight. I knew she'd bought me clothes-probably trendy clothes. I knew she was helping Jack and the other guys out because she thought I needed a makeover. She'd been encouraging me to get new clothes since I started dressing like this. She knew that I started dressing like this to fit in with the guys and to keep from getting hit on by hockey players who were six years older than me. But eventually they became my wardrobe. I currently owned one skirt and no dresses. The skirt I only owned because I wore it on Sundays; I wore the same skirt to church every single Sunday.

Okay, so that is pretty lame. I've been told that I don't really look like a girl; I look like more of an "it". I always wear my hair in a ponytail and I wear jeans and t-shirts and sweatshirts as much as I can. I wear my skirt to church on Sundays and I wear dress pants and a blouse to hockey games. Maybe I don't look that much like a girl, but I really am one under all the jeans and t-shirts. I have boobs and all that stuff underneath all the baggy clothes.

I think my real problem is that my sister is a slut and I do NOT want to be like her. It was bad enough hearing people whisper "That's Anna O'Leary; she's nothing like her sister" every five minutes of my senior year of high school. They kept saying things like "don't try to get in her pants" whenever they walked past me. Trust me; your reputation can destroy your siblings when you both go to the same high school. So behave yourself in public.

So the guys all came out to the locker room. They were all glistening with sweat and smelly; they needed to hit the showers. But these were the kind of guys I was used to. I followed them into the locker room. "Okay, everybody stay decent in the main room. I really don't want to see anything that I couldn't see at a public pool."

"Yes, Mother," Mike Ramsey yelled.

"Rammer, if I'm the mother, then you're my baby and I get to pinch your cheeks," I threatened.

Rob patted Rammer on the shoulder. "Don't worry, buddy; she's a nice girl. She'll only pinch; she won't pull the skin off your face."

I smiled and leaned against the wall, watching the insane banter of hockey playing boys. I loved just watching hockey players interact. I had a couple of files Herb wanted me to hand out. He wanted some more information about some of the players, so I had to give them questionnaires. "Okay," I yelled. "I need to see the following guys over here by the door before they go home: Morrow, Johnson, Christian, Harrington, Pavelich, Wells, Cox, and Horsch."

"Do you want to go on a date with me?" Cox asked coming over to me and looking deep into my eyes.

"No, not tonight, Ralph, but thanks for the offer," I said, sighing. "I'm saving myself for a man with a full beard."

"What about a nice clean shaven man?" Bah Harrington asked as he came over to me.

I took the files labeled "Ralph Cox" and "John Harrington" out of my pile and handed them to the respective hockey players. "Just take these, fill them out tonight and get them back to me as soon as you can. Herb needs this stuff ASAP, so don't spend like twenty years on this stuff."

"Yes, Mommy," Harrington said, patting my head. "I don't know what I'd do without you."

"You'd die," I replied blandly before I went to find the other six guys.

**Jack's POV**

That night Gayle and Anna made dinner for us. They made spaghetti and meatballs. I thought it was really good. Admittedly, it wasn't as good as Mrs. Eruzione's spaghetti, but she's Italian; Anna and Gayle aren't. But Rizzo had to tease them about the food. "Anna, if you're going to make spaghetti, ask me for help. I'm Italian and I can teach you how to make real Italian spaghetti."

Anna sighed. "Thanks for the offer, Rizzo. But if you really want to have some real Italian spaghetti for dinner one night, then you can make it. I can't make you guys dinner every single night. I can cook, but I only know how to make a few dishes. I can make spaghetti, macaroni and cheese, tomato soup, turkey soup, Thanksgiving dinner, a couple kinds of cake and pie, chocolate chip cookies, peanut butter cookies, and several casseroles. So, if you want a variety in the food, you can volunteer to cook."

"Okay," Rizzo replied. "I'm cooking dinner every Thursday night."

"So Rizzo has Thursdays," Anna said. "Anyone else want to pitch in with the cooking? I'm willing to cook two nights a week."

"I'm not much of a cook," I offered. "But I can cook on Mondays."

"Gayle and I can cook on Wednesdays," Buzz said.

"Silky and I have Tuesdays," Jimmy Craig announced.

"Okay," Anna recapped. "We've got Monday through Thursday covered. I think we should leave Fridays open so guys can go out on dates. And I can do Saturdays and Sundays. If anyone else ever wants to help, let the people who are cooking know. We're going to post a schedule in the kitchen so you always know who is going to be cooking every night of the week."

"But we'll still go out to dinner as a team every now and then, won't we?" Mac asked.

"Of course," Anna said. "But we're going to feed you guys good healthy food as much as we can."

"You sound like my mother," Mark Johnson moaned.

"Well, guess what, Johnson?" Anna told him. "For the next seven months, I am your mother."

"Oh no," Verchota moaned. "Now I'm never going to get anyone into my bed."

"I don't care who you sleep with," Cox, Philly's roommate, said.

"But Anna's going to be my mother."

"And she doesn't live here," Jimmy pointed out. "She won't be here at night to put a cramp on your style."

Verchota sighed. "Oh thank heaven. I'm saved. I won't have to take a vow of chastity until the Olympics."

"And do you know if you're even going to make it to February?" Ross asked.

"Because I am the amazing Phil Verchota," Philly announced to the whole room.

"Oh brother," Anna sighed. "These are going to be the longest seven months of my life."

I felt bad for her. One girl spending the next seven months with twenty guys-that was going to be lonely for her. And I suspected that Herb didn't want her dating anyone on the team. Sure Gayle and eventually Morrow's wife were going to be around, but she was going to be spending the bulk of her time with the team. She might be from Minnesota, but we guys were going to have to be nice to her. We were going to have to treat her like a princess.

A/N: Okay, so I think that Jack isn't usually written this way, but I'm kind of basing him on this guy I met when I was working in Mexico. (That was part of the reason this took so long to post; I spent ten days working at an orphanage in Mexico.) Jack is going to be based on one of the guys we worked with.

Anyway, I hope you guys like it. Please review. And I'll try to update soon.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: I still don't own _Miracle_. Thank you to all my reviewers. I hope you continue to enjoy the story.

**Chapter Three**

**Jack's POV**

The second Friday in August, most of the team went to a local bar with Anna and a couple of her friends. For most of us it was a pretty uneventful evening. Anna was wearing some new form-fitting jeans, a tight pale pink tank top, and high heels-well, they were high compared to what she usually wore. She was also wearing a little make-up and she's straightened her hair. Okay, I'm not going to lie; she looked amazing.

And Rob noticed. He kept staring at her the whole night. But she wouldn't give him a second glance. Anna spent the whole night dancing and talking and laughing with me. Every time he looked at us, he took another gulp of beer. By the end of the night, Bah and I had to drag-carry him back to the room. He kept moaning and repeating the same phrase over and over we went up the stairs. "She was so pretty…she looked just like a girl should look."

I knew he was talking about Anna and I'm pretty sure that Bah knew that too. Anna had looked amazing, but that was the only thing I had realized about her lately. Anna is an amazing person. Sure, she was good looking, but she was also nice. She was a good cook and an even better listener. One Sunday night when she was making dinner I found myself in the kitchen with nothing to do so I started chopping vegetables and talking. And before long, I started finding myself in the kitchen every Sunday night. Sunday nights were our thing we did together. That was how our relationship started. We were just friends at first.

I know a lot of people say "oh, we're just friends." But with Anna and me, it was true. We were good friends. I felt "safe" around her, like I could tell her anything and everything. We talked about hockey and music and TV shows and books. It turns out that Anna loves reading and not just boring old books that my sisters read, but also more interesting books like Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and more controversial works like The Bell Jar and Howl. She also loved the works of JRR Tolkien and CS Lewis. She was quirky to say the least. She could be a completely serious person but at the same time she could also be silly and goofy.

Earlier that night she had been cracking jokes at the bar and Philly had gasped. "Wow, I never knew girls could be that much fun to hang out with."

I decided not to mention that I did know that girls could be this much fun. First off, I've been hanging out with Anna every Sunday for the past month. Secondly, I have four sisters and they're all great girls. My sister, Kathleen, is always telling jokes and cracking one-liners. Anna reminds me of Kate in little ways.

Okay, so I should explain a little about my family so you don't think I'm this random creature that was sprung out of the ground fully grown. I'm the second of eight children. My parents are Patrick and Eileen O'Callahan; they're both Irish-American and have lived in the Boston area their entire lives. They are also both devoted Catholics and they've raised all eight of their children going to Catholic schools and Mass every Sunday; I guess what I'm trying to say is that my parents' Catholicism has rubbed off on me and during college, I ended up choosing Catholicism for myself. But now onto my siblings…

I have one older brother-Patrick Michael O'Callahan, Jr. Paddy is the apple of our dad's eye. He went to college and majored business. Then he started working with my dad; he's going to take over my dad's business someday.

I'm two years younger than Paddy and my Christian name is John Regan O'Callahan. Regan was my maternal grandfather's name and it was also his mother's maiden name so it's a name steeped in family lore. I went to Boston University on a hockey scholarship and majored in accounting. When I'm done with hockey, I'm planning on working in an investment firm. I also want to settle down and get married…someday…and have a family.

Kate is eleven months younger than me…my Irish twin. Her full name is Kathleen Eileen O'Callahan. It's a horrible name but it's a family name. She's a senior at Boston University…my alma mater; she wants to be a teacher.

Next comes Maeve Maureen; she's two years younger than Kate. She's a sophomore at BU; she's a good girl. She's the quiet one in the family, but she doesn't know what she wants to do with her life.

After Maeve is Owen Matthew. He's seventeen and a high school senior. He likes basketball and girls…I think he likes girls more.

Aidan Timothy is fifteen and a high school sophomore. He and Owen both go to Latin Boys School-my high school. Aidan is trying to be the next me; he loves hockey. In fact, I taught him to play hockey.

Bridget Rebecca is thirteen and in middle school. She's thirteen and acts like it.

Fiona Sarah is eleven and in sixth grade. I don't really know her that well. She's my little sister and I love her but I don't really know her. And the thing that scares me is that I probably never will really get to know her. But I want to get to know her; she is my little sister after all. I don't really want to know Bridget these days because she's so hormonal and scary, but I want to know Fiona.

That's my family. I love them and it's going to be a long, hard seven months without them. But Anna reminds me of my family. She's part-Irish and it comes out her in personality sometimes. And she's vibrant and vivacious and insane. I love hearing her laugh. Just last Sunday, I was helping her in the kitchen when Rammer came in and offered to set the table.

"_Sure you can set the table," Anna said. "Just make sure that everyone has a plate, napkin, cup, and silverware."_

"_And everything has to match?" he asked. _

"_Of course," she replied with a nod and a smile._

_Rammer went and set the table. Then he came back and looked at Anna like a little lost puppy dog. "Anna, I have a question for you and it's sort of important."_

_She looked at him with what could only be described as a benevolent smile. "Yes, what's the question?"_

"_Do all the chairs need to be color coordinated?"_

_She laughed, loudly. Her laugh didn't sound like bells or anything that people always write about in books. It sounded natural, like her. I can't explain it; her laugh sounds like her. That's all I can say._

"_Of course the chairs need to be color coordinated. We might die if they aren't." _

_I was starting to pick up that there was some kind of inside joke involved, and I was getting really confused. But I kept watching and listening and working on my salad hoping that somehow everything would become clear to me. Maybe the onions or the lettuce understood the jokes and could explain them to me. _

_Rammer turned to me. "Jack, do you like water?"_

_I blinked and looked at him. "I beg your pardon?"_

"_It's a simple yes or no question," Rammer said. "Do you or do you not like water?"_

_I shrugged. "It's good stuff, the liquid of life. I guess I like. Sure," I said with a smile. "I like water."_

"_That's good," Rammer replied. "I'm always glad to hear that people like water. Water is great stuff. Don't you agree, Anna?"_

_Anna burst out laughing. "Michael Alan Ramsey, you have spent far too much time around Brian Maybe."_

_He smiled at her. "And don't you know it?"_

"_I need to find some new friends," Anna muttered to me. "I spend all my time around men who are half insane and women who enjoy the men's sense of humor. _

"_Don't look at me," I told her. "I've been told that I'm pretty insane myself."_

_She smiled, revealing pearly white teeth. "Don't you think she has great potential to be like a princess or a beauty queen?" Rammer whispered in my ear. _

_I looked at her. She was wearing blue jeans and a black blouse. She'd French-braided her hair that day and then put the braids in a bun. It really flattered her face, her bone structure especially her jaw line and cheekbones. "I think that perhaps she already is a princess but we can't see it because we're too consumed with appearances."_

_Anna looked up at us from the garlic bread she was making. "What are ye two lads talking about?" she said with a fake Irish accent. _

"_Oh, you know," Rammer said quickly. "Life, hockey, you know what guys talk about."_

Rob had finally fallen asleep. With the amount of alcohol he'd consumed that night, he'd have a terrible hangover in the morning. But for now, he was safely sleeping. And I was free to think about the evening. Other than Rob's boozing, it had been a very successful night. From the minute I sat down at the table, Anna had been at my side.

"_Hey, stranger," Anna said sitting down next to me with a bottle of Coke in her hand. "I haven't seen you all day."_

"_Your stepfather has had me working my legs off," I replied. "And I seem to recall you being one busy bee today as well. I see you running around with files and paperwork all day."_

"_Well, when I'm not doing that, I'm on the phone talking to people from the AHA, the USOC, and other such acronymic organizations."_

"_It sounds like you're having as much fun as I am."_

_She smiled at me; I was in serious danger of falling in love with that smile. "I just might be. Now, tell me, Mr. O'Callahan," she said. "I have a very serious dilemma. Should I order a hamburger or pizza?"_

"_Well, Miss O'Leary-Brooks," I replied. "I was planning to order a cheeseburger but if you so desire, we could split a pizza."_

"_I think I'm in the mood for pizza," she told me after studying the menu for a while. "It's not as messy and I don't want to mess up my new clothes."_

_It was then that I really noticed her outfit. She looked so different from her usual self. Instead of her usual baggy jeans, she was wearing new jeans that clung to her curves in just the right way. She was wearing a new pale pink tank-top that had a scoop neck. It showed her body off to its best advantages. She was wearing simple pink earrings and black sandals with just a little heel-maybe an inch. She'd straightened her hair and it was hanging loose down to her waist. And she was wearing a little make-up but it suited her. She looked wonderful. _

"_You look great," I told her._

"_Thanks," she said with a glimmer of a smile. "I had quite a bit of help from Gayle while you guys were showering and all that junk."_

"_It turned out really well," I repeated. "Your eyes, your hair, your clothes, you are beautiful."_

"_Don't let Herb hear you say that," she teased. "But thanks. You don't look too bad yourself."_

_I was wearing a pair of jeans and a blue t-shirt. She and I had a deal; we wouldn't wear clothes with our alma maters' names on them around each other. It helped us keep the peace. But it was nice to have a little bit of a friendly rivalry with her. She was a great girl. _

_We'd all been sitting around talking for a couple hours when Anna looked at me. "Hey, Boston boy, do you want to dance?"_

_I shrugged. "Sure, I'd love to as long as you don't make me polka."_

"_Don't worry," she replied. "I don't know how to polka."_

"_One of my aunts tried to teach me at my cousin's wedding a couple years ago and it was a disaster. Trust me; that was an evening that should never be repeated."_

_She laughed. "My dad's sister taught me to waltz at my cousin's wedding when I was in high school. It was insane; she was teaching like eight of her nieces and nephews and none of the guys wanted to learn."_

"_But did you end up getting to dance?"_

"_Yep," she said with a smile. "I danced with the groom's brother, the best man, and two or three other guys. It was fun."_

_We had started dancing by this point. "Was this a guy cousin or a girl cousin?"_

"_It was my cousin, Liam. He's my dad's brother's son. Most of my dad's family still lives in Boston so I headed out there for the wedding."_

"_Did your whole family go?"_

"_No, just me," she replied. "I only went because Liam is my godfather."_

"_Your godfather? How old is he?"_

"_He was fifteen when I was born, so he's thirty-seven now. This wedding was six years ago. His dad was my father's oldest brother."_

"_If you don't mind my asking, what happened to your dad? I know he died, but how?" _

_She looked away and I could feel her body tense up. _

"_You don't have to tell me," I told her. "If you don't want to, it's fine."_

"_No, it's fine. He died of cancer when I was almost four. I don't remember him well and Abby doesn't remember him at all. But she still considers Aidan O'Leary to be her father. And she treats Herb horribly because of that."_

"_How old was he?"_

_Anna thought for a minute before replying, "He was about forty."_

"_How old was your mom when she got married?"_

"_She was twenty and he was thirty-five. She got married at twenty, had her first child at twenty-one, her second at twenty-four, and was a widow at twenty-five."_

"_When did she marry Herb?"_

"_About four years after my dad died," she said. "They had Danny when I was eleven and Kelly when I was thirteen."_

_I nodded. I was starting to learn more about her and I was amazed by her life story. I looked at her; a thought had just popped into my head. "Wait a minute," I said. "Is your cousin named Liam O'Leary?"_

"_Uh-huh."_

"_Is he an accountant in Boston?"_

"_Yes, why?"_

"_Last summer I did an internship with an accountant in Boston named Liam O'Leary. That must have been your cousin."_

"_Yeah, that's him. He's an accountant in Boston."_

"_He's a really good guy," I said. "I liked him. He took me home to have dinner with his family a couple times."_

"_Oh, so you got to meet Mira and the kids then?" she asked with a smile. "Their kids are so cute."_

"_They are. I really liked Thomas; he's so precocious. He acted like he was four going on forty."_

"_I went to visit them at the beginning of the summer and I had so much fun with all three of the kids. Tommy is five now, Stephen is three, and Andrea is about a year and a half. They're all so cute."_

_She clearly loved kids; her face just lit up talking about her cousin's kids. I had met them a few times the summer before and they were really cute kids. It was so weird knowing that I'd interned for her cousin the summer before. "I have another question for you," I asked her. _

"_I might have another answer for you," she replied with a smile. _

"_Are you Catholic? I know Liam is Catholic and you said that he's your godfather."_

_She smiled. "Yep, I'm Catholic. My parents decided when I was born to raise me Catholic and Abby Episcopalian and then when my dad died, my mom promised him that she would make sure I was raised Catholic. So one of our neighbors took me to Mass every Sunday and when I got a car, I started driving myself. If you want, I can take you and anyone else who is Catholic to Mass on Sunday."_

"_Are you serious? That'd be awesome. Jimmy, Mike, Silky, and I all need a way to Mass on Sundays. We've been walking to the student chapel, but I'm not a big fan of that church." _

"_No one is," she replied. "I'm never liked it. But I've been going to St. Mary Magdalene at 8:45 since the third week of my freshman year of college."_

_I smiled. "I'll talk to Rizzo, Jimmy, and Silky and let you know who will be coming."_

"_Sounds good," she said. "I'll probably pick you up between 8:20 and 8:30."_

"_That works for me."_

I'm glad she's Catholic. My parents have raised me Catholic and although I have dated around bit, I know that I want to marry a Catholic woman. I want to marry someone who has the same morals and values as I do. I learned that when I was dating Denise. She was an atheist and while I've met some very nice atheists in my life, we had very different morals. She was okay with premarital sex; I wasn't. Her political opinions fell more on the liberal side of the coin while mine were more conservative.

From what I've learned of her over the past month, Anna had the same morals and values that I had. But she was also very opinionated. Most of her opinions coincided with mine, but she was very stubborn about getting things her way. She was as stubborn as mule, but damn she was beautiful. And I fell asleep dreaming about her.

The next morning, I woke up to find my roommate puking his guts up in the bathroom we shared with Baker and Rammer. Baker and Rammer both seemed to be asleep still, but that was probably only because the door from their room into the bathroom was closed. Rob looked up at me as I stepped inside the bathroom. "Do you need anything?" I asked him.

"Yeah, make my head stop pounding and the room needs to stop spinning," he moaned. "But then I'll be set."

"I'll see what I can do about that," I told him. I felt bad for him, drinking himself into such a state over a girl. I got drunk out of my skull when I broke up with my high school girlfriend, Joanne. We broke up my sophomore year of college when I found her with another guy. I dated Denise during my junior year of college. They were the only serious girlfriends I've ever had. I've had some short-term relationships/flings over the years, but nothing serious.

And now Anna is in the picture. We're not serious or even official. But as I watch my roommate pay homage to the porcelain god I start to realize that she is important to me. Rob doesn't know how he feels about Anna; he has one thing but he thinks he might want more. He's very confused about the whole thing.

But I know what I want. I want to watch her walk down the aisle in a white dress and promise me forever as I promise her forever. I want to watch her become a mother and raise children. I want to share my hopes and dreams and future with her. I want to grow old and deaf with her. I want her in my life forever. All I want is her.

And as I think that, I heard Rob moan, "Please don't tell Anna about this. She wouldn't understand and she'd probably hate me. Just keep this a secret. Please Jack, don't let her know."

"I won't tell her," I promised him.

But when I went down for breakfast and found Anna talking to Johnson and Pav, I realized that she was there last night. She knew what happened.

"So, how's Rob doing this morning?" she asked me as I sat down next to Johnson. "He's probably pretty miserable right now."

I nodded. "Yeah, he's not feeling too well."

"Poor guy," she said. "But maybe he needs to realize that he can't treat people like dirt and expect them to still like him afterwards."

A/N: Okay, so it's a little different, and we don't know yet how Anna feels about all of this. That will come later. But I hope you enjoyed it. Please review!


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: I don't own _Miracle_. Thank you so much to all my reviewers. You guys really encourage me.

**Chapter Four**

**Anna's POV**

I had big plans for that Saturday. Friday night had been a mix of absolutely amazing and absolutely awful. Jack was an awesome guy and I had a lot of fun with him. But I couldn't understand Rob for the life of me. He insults me but then when I put a little effort into my appearance, he suddenly expects me to lie down at his feet and beg him to date me. And when I spend a little time with Jack-a guy who actually respects me no matter how I'm dressed, Rob acts like I've betrayed him to his death. Men are so complicated.

So I had a fun day planned. I was taking Kelly out for lunch and then we were going to do a little shopping. She needed some clothes for school in the fall and that had been our thing to do together ever since I started driving six years earlier. We went shopping for school clothes and such together. Gayle and Rosemary were tagging along to help add a few items to my wardrobe as well.

Then at four, Gayle and I were meeting Jack, Rizzo, Silky, Jimmy, and Buzzy at the grocery store. Kelly was also going to tag along at the grocery store and then we were dropping her off on the way home. It didn't escape my notice that most of the guys who had volunteered for cooking were from Boston. I knew that Jimmy and Jack were both from large Irish families and I figured hat they had probably had to help out with the cooking growing up. I didn't know where Rizzo and Silky learned to cook but I did know that Rizzo was Italian, so that had probably contributed to it.

It did disappoint me that no one else was willing to cook. But I was finding that these Boston boys were good cooks. Rizzo's spaghetti was amazing. Jack could also make good macaroni and cheese and his soup was pretty good too. Jimmy made really good bread and Silky made really good meatloaf and mashed potatoes. We were all finding our little niches in the kitchen.

And I was growing to love Sunday night dinner. That was my night when Jack and I cooked together. It had started the first Sunday I'd been cooking. I had been making chicken tetrazzini and he came in and offered to help. I accepted his offer and gave him mushrooms to chop. We ended up making the whole meal together and talking. We found out that my little brother is the same age as his youngest sister, Fiona, and we started kidding around about setting Danny and Fiona up during the Olympics.

Every Thursday night, all seven cooks met in the kitchen and planned out the menu for the next week. I made the grocery list while Jack and Silky took turns writing out the menu for the week. Neither of them had great handwriting and people regularly commented on it. One night, my dad stopped by for dinner and saw the cooking schedule for the week and tried to read it out loud. "Saturday-Am ran is making toy key with port toes and grease, Sunday, Am ran is making church soup with bread and frogs, Monday, Jerk is making Marconi and choose, Tuesday, Silk and Crap are making rooster meat with pasta and bread, Wednesday, Goyle and Busy are making sauce argh with crap and hissing, and Thursday, Marissa is making sporks and meet basses. Well, it looks like you boys will be eating well this week."

Silk, who had written the menu the week before, spoke up. "No offense, Herb, but you completely misread that. Saturday, Anna made turkey with mashed potatoes and gravy. Sunday, Anna made chicken soup with corn bread. Monday, Jack made macaroni and cheese. Tonight, Jimmy and I made roast beef with pasta and bread. Tomorrow, Gayle and Buzzy are making sausage casserole. And Thursday, Rizzo is making spaghetti and meatballs. All that food is perfect safe for human consumption. I promise. Anna, aren't Jimmy and I good cooks?"

"Jimmy makes really good bread," I answered. "And all this food is safe to eat, Herb. Trust me; I screened all of them before I let them cook in this kitchen."

Herb shook his head. "All right, I'll believe you for now."

Gayle and I picked Kelly up at ten. We were meeting Rosemary in Penny's at ten-thirty. Kelly was standing on the front porch of house waiting for us, but I still stuck my head in the front door to say hello to my mother. Kelly was tapping her foot during the entirety of the following exchange.

"Hi, Mom," I said. "How are you?"

"Oh, hey, Anna," she replied. "I'm good. How are you?"

"I'm doing pretty well," I answered. Then spotting my little brother who was sitting on the living room floor eating cereal and watching cartoons, I added, "Hi, Danny."

Danny didn't reply but my mother said, "Anna, don't spend too much money on Kelly. I've given her some money and if she needs more, you can buy what she needs but please let me see the receipts so I can pay you back. I don't want you spending more money than you have. And for goodness's sakes, Danny, please acknowledge your sister when she acknowledges you."

Danny sighed and looked up at me. "Oh, hey, Anna, it's nice to see you."

"Good to see you too, Dan," I replied. "How's hockey going?"

"It's pretty good. Can you ask Dad to let me watch hockey practice one day, please?"

"I'll see what I can do for you, kiddo."

"Thanks," he said.

Just then, Kelly sighed and let a loud moan; personally I was wondering if she was dying. "Are we ready to go yet?"

I smiled. "Why, yes we are. I'll see you later, Mom, Dan. Tell Dad I said hello." When Danny and Kelly are around, I refer to Herb as "Dad." Herb was at the rink dealing with something. There might have been practice today, but I couldn't remember. I had Saturdays off and the boys hadn't said anything this morning anyway. But they might have been too tired to talk; they'd had a big night last night. I'd barely even spoken to Jack this morning before Gayle arrived in the kitchen. But Jack had been busy taking care of Rob. That was something I never thought I'd see; Jack O'Callahan was taking care of a hung-over Rob McClanahan. But miracles can happen.

When we got to mall, Rosemary was waiting for us in the girls' department of Penny's. I hadn't see Rosemary since I left for work the day before because she'd still been out with Jeff when I went to bed the night before. And then she was still in bed when I left to go pick up Gayle and Kelly. So when she was beaming like the morning sun, I had to know why and so I asked her what was going on.

"You're never going to guess what Jeff did last night!" she squealed.

"Umm, he paid for dinner?" I asked. I was pretty sure I knew what he had done but she wouldn't be happy unless I played along with her game.

Rosemary flashed her left hand in my face. "He proposed! And I said yes!"

I hugged her. "That's awesome. When's the wedding?"

"January," she said. "I know that's fast but we don't care. We talked to our parents last night and they're fine with it. And of course, Anna, you'll have to be the maid of honor."

"I'd love to be your maid of honor," I replied with a smile. Inside I was praying that she wouldn't pick ugly bridesmaid dresses. I'd already been in two weddings in the past year-Gayle's and Lisa's. I was Gayle's maid of honor and let me tell you if I'm in one more wedding after Rosemary's, I might have to shoot someone. Being in weddings means you have to wear an ugly dress and high heels and dance with guys you really hate. I'd rather just get married and have that be the end of my wedding career.

"Thank you so much! I love you!" Rosemary squealed. She's a squealing person. Rob says he doesn't see what Jeff says her because she can't cook and she communicates by squealing really loudly. "And Gayle, will you be one of my bridesmaids, please?"

"Umm, sure, yeah, I guess so." Gayle's been in five weddings in the past six years not counting her own. I haven't been in as many weddings, but that's because I don't have as many cousins in the Twin Cities area as Gayle does. My mom only has one sister and one brother. My aunt Joyce has two children, both of whom are younger than I am. My uncle Henry has three children, none of whom are married. However, my cousin, Janice, is getting married in November and I'm going to be her bridesmaid. So, Rosemary will end up being my fourth wedding in less than a year. I just pray that Rosemary doesn't decide to make me wear a bright orange dress or something; that would be positively hideous.

We spent two hours looking for clothes for Kelly. We found plenty of cute skirts and tops that Kelly loved. She also picked out a few pairs of jeans and corduroys. We had so much fun looking for clothes for a nine-year-old. It's so bizarre how much fun three twenty-two year old women can have watching a nine-year-old model new clothes.

When we were done shopping for Kelly, we grabbed lunch at Mariana's, this really amazing Italian restaurant that had just opened at the mall. I adored malls these days because you could drive to one place and do all your shopping there. It saves a lot of gas. But I also loved hanging out with my sister and two of my favorite girls.

"So after lunch," Gayle began as she stuck her fork into a plate of spaghetti. "I'm thinking that we should head back to Penny's to look at clothes for Anna."

"That sounds good," Rosemary said. "But we should also hit Sears and a couple of the smaller stores as well. We need to start by getting her a few basic pieces she can wear to practice and meetings."

"Right," Gayle replied. "She's definitely going to need some basic pieces. But she'll also need at least one nice suit and a nice skirt and top outfit to wear to hockey games. I mean we can't send her to Sweden wearing a Minnesota sweatshirt and the jeans she bought in tenth grade."

"So true," my roommate agreed. "She'd be a disgrace to Americans. The Swedes would think that Americans are stupid idiots who have no clue how to get dressed in the morning."

I sighed. "Okay, you guys, be honest with me. Am I really that bad of a dresser? Are my clothes that ugly that people would be embarrassed to admit that I'm a representative of the United States?"

Gayle suddenly became very busy spinning her spaghetti around her fork and Rosemary became very interested in examining her lasagna. But of course out of the babes comes truth and Kelly spoke up immediately. "Yes, you dress like a boy. At this rate you're never going to get married. Face it, Anna. You need this make-over they're trying to give you."

I felt like I'd just been hit by a car and smashed through a brick wall. My little sister thought I looked like a boy. She thought I really did need to completely change my look. I guess I must have just sat there staring at my bowl of pasta for a while because suddenly, Gayle's hands were in my face. "Anna, are you all right? Are you okay?"

"Am I really that bad?" I whispered. "Do I really dress like a boy?"

Rosemary looked at me. "Answer one question for me, please. Where do you buy the majority of your clothes?"

I took a deep breath before admitting "The boys' department. I buy my jeans in the boys' department and I get my sweatshirts and t-shirts in the men's department. But I did buy my dress and my suit in the women's department."

"True," Gayle said. "But you bought them about four years ago and they're both practically falling apart."

"Honey," Rosemary added. "Face it; it's time for a new wardrobe for you. Look at yourself."

I was wearing a pair of jeans-from the boys' department and a black t-shirt that I'd stolen from Steve Janaszak after a hockey game last winter. Okay, maybe I do need new clothes. And Steve's shirt was way too big for me. Granted, Steve is almost a foot taller than me, so the shirt doesn't fit me at all; it was basically just hanging off of my body.

"But I really need to find shirts that can fit my chest," I pointed out. "And I don't have any problems fitting my chest into guys' shirts."

"And then of course no one can see your gorgeous body," Gayle pointed out. "Just go shopping with us for a little while and see if we can't find just a couple things that you like and that fit you really well."

"Okay," I agreed reluctantly. "Just don't make me look like Abby."

Rosemary smiled at me. "Don't worry, sweetie. I'd never do that to anyone I loved."

In the end, we bought what I considered a huge amount of clothing. I got two pairs of jeans, a pair of black dress pants, a pair of gray dress pants, two knee-length skirts-one black and one gray, five blouses, two blazers, and a couple of shirts for weekends and relaxing. And apparently, this purchasing of new clothes was not done either. "We're going to get you more things closer to Christmas and the Games," Gayle informed me. "Eventually, we're also going to get you some make-up and even get you to cut your hair."

Okay, so at this point I should explain something. I haven't had a serious hair cut since my freshman year of high school. I've had trims every now and then to keep from getting split ends, but nothing serious since then. My hair hasn't been cut in eight years and the last cut I had-the summer before freshman year-they cut my hair to my shoulders. My hair now falls to my butt. I wear it in braids or ponytails or buns most of the time but I will readily that I do have a lot of hair. Maybe it is time for a hair cut just like it's time for a makeover.

So we put all the clothes in my car, said good-bye to Rosemary, and we headed over to the grocery store to meet Jack, Rizzo, Silky, Jimmy, and Buzzy. Kelly wasn't exactly thrilled about tagging along, but I didn't think that any of the guys were terribly enthused about going grocery shopping themselves. But I was pretty sure that those guys would entertain Kelly so things shouldn't be too terrible for the next hour.

You would think that spending an hour with Gayle, Kelly, and the five guys wouldn't be too terrible. But somehow, Buzzy decided to spend the entire time we were in the grocery store terrorizing my little sister. We split up the list and then split up into groups; each group was responsible for one part of the list. This does not sound too terribly difficult. Silky and Jimmy had the list of fruits and vegetables; then they set off to conquer the produce department. Rizzo and Kelly had the dairy products and they headed off in search of ice cream, cheese, yogurt, and milk. Buzzy and Gayle had canned and boxed foods as well as the baked goods section. And Jack and I had the meat department and snack foods. Now, you might wonder why I was working with Jack and not with my sister. Well, it's very simple. She fell in love with Rizzo about two seconds after she met him.

So Jack and I were filling up on beef, chicken, and ground chuck when we saw Buzzy chasing Kelly around. Apparently, she had been walking past a freezer full of ice cream when he popped out and screamed. Well she screamed louder and he started chasing her. Sometimes, Buzzy is not so smart. I ended up with my little sister clinging to me and Jack dragging Buzzy out to the car. Apparently, this was not the first time Buzzy had tried to "surprise" Kelly. So Gayle took Buzzy home, leaving me with a station wagon to take Kelly and four guys home in. Well, I hope everyone likes being comfy-cozy in the car because the trunk was going to be full of clothes and food. And we were going to have to take a side-trip to take Kelly home, which meant that the dinner we had planned for six-thirty was now going to end up being closer to seven or seven-thirty.

It was at this point Jack announced that someone should invent phones that you could just carry around in your pocket or purse so that you could call someone whenever you needed to. This way, according to Jack's reasoning, we could have just called my mom and asked her to meet us at Kroger's.

That would have been so much easier. By the way, if you're wondering, initially, Gayle had been planning to take Kelly home so that I could end back to the U to make dinner. Buzzy really complicates things sometimes. But you've go to love him, or at least I do; he is married to one of my dearest friends, after all. As my cousin Liam likes to say, "God save us from a death like that on the wreath of Norman's woe." I have no clue what that's supposed to mean, but it sure as heck sounds nice.

A/N: Okay, so this was a bit shorter. And I'll explain about dinner and the next day in the next chapter-and all from Jack's POV. But I'm leaving for college and I wanted to get this off to Emador before I leave for school

Oh and with me heading off to school, please expect updates to slow down a little. I'll be working and taking classes and other fun things starting soon which will slow down my writing process.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: I know I neglected this story for far too long but I think I finally know where I want it to go. I still don't own _Miracle_.

This is Your Time-Chapter Five

**Jack's POV**

Anna pulled her car into her parents' driveway. I wasn't surprised by the fact that Herb and his family lived in a pretty nice house. They had a two car garage and there was another car parked in the driveway. Anna took one look at the third car and shook her head. "Kelly, I'll walk you in to say hi to Mom, but I'm going to be really brief."

Kelly nodded as she climbed out of the backseat where she'd been sitting with Rizzo and me. "Bye, Mike, Jack, Dave, and Jimmy; it was nice meeting you guys."

We all said good-bye and told her that it had been nice meeting her too. Then she headed into her house with her sister. "They don't look like sisters," Rizzo said. "Anna has really dark hair and Kelly's a blonde."

"Plus their names are very different," Silky remarked from the trunk.

"They are only half sisters," Jimmy pointed out. "Anna probably takes after her dad's side of the family."

"Well, Kelly's got to take after her mom. For one thing, Herb isn't a blonde and for another thing, she seems so cheerful and outgoing," Silky said.

"Anna's like that too," Jimmy commented. "Maybe it's something they both picked up from their mom."

"Could be," Rizzo said. "But they don't look like sisters. Jack's sisters don't all have the same hair color but you can tell they're sisters."

"My sisters also have the same two parents; Kelly and Anna have different fathers."

"True story," Jimmy sighed. "It must be weird having stepparents."

We never got any further with that discussion because as he said that Anna came storming out of the house closely followed by Kelly and a boy I assumed must be their brother, Danny. Kelly opened the car door next to me and said, "I can sit in the middle if you prefer."

I climbed out, she climbed in, and then I got back in the car again. Danny climbed in the trunk while this was going on. Kelly threw her backpack in the trunk with her brother. Anna turned the car back on and sighed. "Kelly, Danny, we'll have dinner with the team and then we'll go back to my place. You guys can stay with me until Mom says the coast is clear."

"Okay," Danny mumbled from the backseat.

"Fine," Kelly sighed. "Just make sure Mom knows I don't like this, not one bit."

"I'm pretty sure she already knows that, kiddo," Anna told her as she backed the car out of the driveway.

"Then why does she let this keep happening?" Danny protested. "She says she won't let her back into the house but every single time she shows up on the doorstep, Mom lets her in and feeds her and gives her money. Dad tells her not to do it but she still does it. Anna, she's letting her mess up our lives."

Anna gripped the steering wheel tightly and sighed. "Kelly, I don't know why this keeps happening. She may be my sister, and I do love her but God help me; she is an idiot. And this time she has just about taken the cake."

I had the distinct impression that now was not the time to be asking questions. The ride back to campus was short anyway. When we got to the dorm, we took the groceries inside and Rizzo, Jimmy, and Silky went off to hang out with some of the other guys. I stayed in the kitchen to help Anna put the groceries away and also because I was on dinner duty that night. Meanwhile her younger siblings went off to play with some of the guys from Minnesota.

As we made dinner, Anna seemed stressed out. She was practically attacking the vegetables in the salad she was making and when she moved on to making the chicken pies we were having for dinner, she was just attacking the chicken too. I looked at her as she furiously stabbed the chicken as she attempted to dice it. "Do you want some help?" I asked her. "Or if you need some time alone, I can finish up dinner and you can go for a walk or something."

She slammed the knife down on the counter and just stared at me. She almost looked like a mad woman. Her hair was a mess and her face was red; she looked frustrated and flustered at the same time. And the eyes staring up at me looked so desperate. "I need to keep my hands busy," she protested.

"Go borrow one of Jimmy's tennis balls and throw it at something for a while. I promise you it is better stress relief than maiming food."

She smiled faintly and nodded. "I just don't know what to do. I feel helpless."

I gripped her shoulders firmly and looked at her. "Oh Anna, talk to me. Tell me what's wrong."

"It's her," she said. "She's back and she says she needs more than just money this time."

"Who are we talking about?" I asked. I had a sneaking suspicion she was referring to her younger sister I'd heard a couple of the Minnesota guys mention. Abigail was supposed to be Hell on Wheels according to Rob. She'd broken his heart when she was seventeen and he was twenty. "And that," Buzzy had said. "Should tell you something about her; she knows how to manipulate people to her will and she loves men but only when they do what she wants."

Anna clenched her fists and her jaw before looking up at me again. "My sister, my baby sister, I was supposed to protect her but then she discovered boys and I couldn't protect her anymore; she wouldn't let me. She didn't want to be protected even though I told her they'd use her. She just let them. And then she started using them back. And now she has whatever she wants. She uses them, gets what she wants, and then moves on."

"Abigail," I whispered. "She was a year old when your dad died." Rammer had told her that piece of information.

"Abby," she said. "And she was fourteen months old. She doesn't remember him at all. I was four years and eight months old and I remember his face; I remember the curves of his face and the way his nose wrinkled when he laughed. She only knows what he looks like from photographs and she didn't love him; she didn't know him well enough to love him. But she still says that Mom betrayed him when she married Herb. She calls Kelly and Danny mistakes. Herb is great for Mom; Daddy knew Herb and he liked him. Before he died, he even told Herb to keep an eye on Mom. He wouldn't want her to be sad and lonely; he would want her to be happy. I'm sure he's glad that she remarried and has two amazing kids with Herb. Kelly and Danny are great; they're not mistake. I don't know where she gets off calling the best things that could have happened to us 'mistakes'." Tears were pouring down her cheeks and she was clinging to me as if for dear life. "I don't know where we'd be if it weren't for Herb. He took care of us even before he married Mom. Sure my grandparents all helped but he was the one who was able to be physically there for us. Dad's parents lived in Boston and Mom's parents live up near Duluth. They visited and sent checks and presents but it was Herb who took us ice skating so Mom could have some time to herself. It was Herb who took us to see Santa Claus at Marshall Field's every Christmas. When Mom worked late and couldn't pick us up from the babysitter's house, Herb or one of his players would come pick us up. And when we were little, Abby called Herb 'Daddy.' But then she found out about her 'real dad' and Herb became lower than dirt to her. He was a thief and I don't know what all else. She's so ungrateful."

"She's a parasite," a voice said from the doorway.

We both turned to see Rob McClanahan standing in the doorway. "Kelly told me everyone's favorite angel was here."

"I imagine she didn't use quite those words," Anna replied. Her voice was rough from crying and ranting but she still seemed sure of herself.

"Actually I believe she probably picked up her exact words from Herb, but that's just a guess since they involved the words 'slut' and 'skank' and 'tramp.'"

"Yep," Anna said shaking her head. "That would be Herb's influence."

"I just want to tell you I'm sorry she's showing up again now," Rob said. "And also, I'm probably going to be spending more time at my parents' place until she leaves town again."

Anna nodded and told him that was fine as he turned and left. "My stinking sister destroyed him," she told me. "He was my best friend back then-maybe he still is; I'm not sure anymore-and she destroyed him. She broke his heart and left him crying and drunk on the floor." She looked up into my eyes again; I was falling in love with those bright blue eyes. "I want to hate her. I know she's my sister but I want to hate her so much. Jack, is that wrong of me? She keeps hurting people I love but I still love her. I want to hate her but I can't. I still love her because she's my baby sister."

"That's not wrong," I told her. "You're supposed to love your sister. You don't have to like her or agree with her decisions. But you should love her at the very least."

"I just want her to stop hurting my family. She's tearing us apart and she doesn't even care."

"I'm sorry." Once the words had left my lips they sounded stupid and futile. And she started crying again. I held her tight in my arms. I loved her and I wanted to protect her from her sister. I wanted her to be safe.

"Jack, you're too good for me," she said suddenly. "I have such a screwed-up past. I dress like a boy. You deserve someone normal, someone girly and pretty."

"What if that's not what I want?" I asked her. "And what's normal anyway? It's just a label that society puts on people. I'm one of eight kids from a crazy Irish family in Boston; do you think I'm normal? I promise you that I'm not normal. I grew up in a three-bedroom house in Charleston, Massachusetts. There were eleven of us living in that house. Eight of us kids, Mamma, Dad, and my crazy grandma; I didn't have a normal childhood."

"But Jack, I'm not pretty," she protested. "And you should marry a pretty girl. You're this good looking hockey player and you need a pretty girlfriend. Hockey players are supposed to have gorgeous girlfriends."

"I happen to think you are gorgeous," I replied. "And I have known a lot of women in my day and I think you are a beautiful girl. Stop worrying about clothes and Rob's stupid comments and just focus on the good. I think you're gorgeous."

"You don't have to lie to me. I'm a big girl; I can take tough news."

I shook my head and stared at her. "Are you crazy? I honestly like you for you. I'm not playing games or anything here. I'm being serious. I find you amazingly gorgeous and if you don't believe me, I'm sorry. I know a lot of people have told you you're not pretty but they're just idiots who don't know what they're talking about."

"Look at me," she demanded. "I'm wearing old, ratty jeans that fit me anymore and a sweatshirt you could fit five of me in and I never put any effort into my hair or anything like that."

"And you also have gorgeous blue eyes, lovely brown curls, a smile that could melt ice, and the sweetest personality of anyone I know. You, Anna O'Leary-Brooks, are an amazing girl and I don't know why people seem to insist on telling you otherwise."

She looked at me. "I don't understand you. Like last night, you could have danced with any girl in that bar but you danced with me. I'm starting to think you really like me, Jack O'Callahan."

I smiled at her. "Well, that would be because I really do like you, Anna O'Leary-Brooks. You're a fantastic girl and I'm proud to know you."

She looked me in the eye. "What are you trying to say?"

It was now or never. "I'm trying to ask you to be my girlfriend."

"Okay but we really need to finish making dinner now."

So we finished making dinner and our chicken pie was a big hit. And after dinner, Anna and I had a talk about our relationship. "So we're dating now?" she asked me.

I nodded. "Yeah, but we should probably keep this quiet for a while. I don't want to create issues or anything."

"Fine by me," she replied. "And Jack, can we take things slowly for a while?"

"Define slowly."

"No premarital sex, just go slowly on everything for a little bit; we can go on dates and all but I'm nervous about this and also I don't want to screw up the team or anything. Plus I'm worried about my makeover."

I smiled at her and kissed her nose. "We'll go slowly. I promise."

"I appreciate that. Are we still on for Mass tomorrow morning?"

I nodded. "Yeah, if you can still pick us up."

"I'll be here at 8:20," she said before hugging me. "Jack, I hope you know you're amazing. I'm glad I met you."

"So am I, Anna; so am I. Have a good night and I'll see you in the morning."

A/N: I'm back. I hope you guys like it. And be honest with your reviews.


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: I know I neglected this story for far too long but I think I finally know where I want it to go. I still don't own _Miracle_. Thanks for all the reviews.

This is Your Time-Chapter Six

**Anna's POV**

Sunday morning I picked Jack, Jimmy, and Rizzo up outside their dorm promptly at eight-twenty. They had actually cleaned up that morning. Jack and Rizzo were both wearing black dress pants and Jimmy was wearing khakis and they were all wearing dress shirts. The three of them immediately jumped into the car and I headed towards St. Mary Magdalene. "Just so you know," I said. "There are a lot of young families at St. Mary's, so there is almost always a baby screaming at some point during Mass."

"Oh, okay," Jimmy said. "There are always babies screaming at Jack's house."

"Not anymore," Jack replied. He was up in the front seat with me while Jimmy and Rizzo were in the backseat. "Fiona's eleven. She doesn't scream like a baby anymore. These days, it's hormonal teenaged girls screaming at each other."

"What do your brothers do all day long?" Rizzo asked.

"They go to school and play sports."

"Yeah but what do they do during the summer?"

"Owen hangs out with his girlfriend and Aidan does something. I don't know what he does. He doesn't have a girlfriend. He probably plays sports all day or something. It's hard to keep track of my brothers; I do have seven siblings."

"Hey, I'm one of eight kids myself," Jimmy said. "I can keep track of my siblings."

"That's because most of your siblings lead lives involving having a job and a family; most of my siblings lead lives involving school and petty high school or middle school dramas."

"What about Patrick? He's not in high school or college. He has a real job and a wife and a baby," Rizzo replied.

That was new information to me. I knew that Jack's older brother was out of college and working with their dad but I didn't know that he was married and had a family. But then I'd only known him for a few months; we'd talked about a lot of things but we'd never really touched the intricacies of our siblings' lives. He knew I had three siblings, all younger, and I knew that he had one older brother and six younger siblings- four younger sisters and two younger brothers; they all had Irish names because his parents were both one-hundred percent Irish.

"I still can't believe Patrick has a baby," Jack said shaking his head. "It seems like just yesterday I was playing hockey with him or fighting with him over the shower."

"He is twenty-four," Rizzo told him. "He's old enough to get married and have kids."

"Yeah but that doesn't mean he has to do that."

"But you do have to admit that your niece is really cute," Jimmy pointed out.

"That's only because she takes after her mother," Jack shot back. "You must admit that Cindy is absolutely gorgeous."

"Oh, I'll admit that readily," Rizzo said. "Anna, you should see Jack's sister-in-law sometime. When she was in college, guys would line up around the block trying to get a date with Cindy, but she was only interested in one guy, Patrick O'Callahan."

"They lived in the same dorm and every girl in that building had a crush on Patrick," Jimmy inserted. "But one day, Cindy went up to Patrick and stood on his feet and announced to him that her name was Cynthia Fleming but he could call her Cindy."

"They were nineteen then," Rizzo explained. "And they got married three years later. And then Sarah came along back in January; she's such a beautiful little girl. Jack has a picture of her in his wallet."

"It's one Paddy mailed me right after I got here," Jack said. "She has dark brown curls and big brown eyes. She looks just like Cindy did at that age. I'll show it to you after Mass."

Jack really was the good Catholic boy Rizzo and Jimmy said he was. He'd told me once that he used to be an altar boy but somehow I still had him pegged as this rebellious kid from Charlestown, Massachusetts who was really just looking for a fight…until that Sunday. He actually loved going to Mass on Sundays and he really cared about his family. After Mass, we went out for breakfast and I listened to him rant and rave about his siblings and his niece. He loved his family. We were sitting there at breakfast when he pulled his wallet out of his pocket. Jimmy sighed as Jack started taking pictures out of his pockets. "Now you'll never hear the end of this. Once he has his pictures, he'll tell you all about his family; they're his favorite topic."

Jack had pictures of all of his siblings as well as his niece. His niece was as adorable as he said. She had dark brown hair that was "very much from her mother," Rizzo told me. "Paddy is blonder than Jack is." In the picture, Sarah was sitting on a couch wearing a pink sundress. "She's adorable," I said.

Jack smiled. "She really takes after Cindy."

"You keep saying that."

"Well, she'd better not look like Paddy; he's just a blonder version of me. You wouldn't want a baby girl to look like that."

"Are you calling yourself ugly?" I asked him.

He shrugged. "It's a possibility." Then he went back to eating his waffles.

"Jack doesn't like it when people go on and on about his looks," Rizzo told me. "He had girls following him everywhere during college and he's sick of it."

"I'm a human being, not a piece of meat," Jack muttered.

"OC had a stalker last year," Jimmy explained. "This girl followed him everywhere and called him all the time. He had to call campus security and get them to deal with her. She wrote him these really weird letters all the time about stuff like how she wanted to have a baby with him."

"And she was one of those girls who wouldn't shave or shower."

Rizzo laughed. "She was a hockey-loving hippie."

I smiled. "That sounds delightful."

"Oh it was wonderful. She called my house and told my mother that we were dating. She managed to get herself invited over to my parents' house for dinner one night, except it happened that I wasn't around that night and it came out in the course of the evening that she didn't really know me; she just wanted to know me."

"That sounds like fun. Why didn't you pursue her?"

"Because she smelled like rotting garbage," he replied. "I prefer girls who shower at least weekly but preferably daily."

"I'll keep that in mind," I told him. "And I should tell you that I did remember to shower this morning."

"Was that your weekly shower or your daily shower?"

I laughed and leaned my head against his shoulder. "It was my daily shower; thank you for asking though."

"You do smell like you take daily showers but I had to check. You never know with all the things that Rob says about you all the time."

**Jack's POV**

Anna jerked away from my shoulder and stared at me. "What else is Robin saying about me?"

"Last night, he was ranting about your family for hours," Rizzo began slowly. "And he said that you were some sort of militant feminist who hates men and wants to see the world ruled by men."

"Bullshit," she replied. "I'm not a feminist."

"He also said that your sister was a whore who would sleep with anyone and that since she was back in town, we should all watch out and make sure she didn't try anything with any of us," Jimmy told her.

"I doubt Abby will be around long enough to try sleeping with any of you. As far as I can tell she's just here to dump her baby with my parents and then take off again."

"She has a baby?" I asked. Her sister was three years younger than her, which made her about nineteen.

"He's about two weeks old," Anna said slowly. "She had him in Vegas and then as soon as she could she drove him up here to leave him with my parents. The only problem is that Mom and Herb don't want to take her baby. They've got enough on their plates with the hockey team and Kelly and Danny."

"So what's going to happen to her baby?"

"I'm not sure," she replied. "I might take him or he could end up in foster care."

"But you were thinking about getting your master's degree in psychology?" Jimmy protested. "How are you going to do that if you're raising a baby?"

"I could take only a class or two at a time and have my mother baby-sit the lad then."

"But how will you work? How will you support yourself and this baby?" Jimmy sounded just like he was Anna's father.

"I'll figure things out. I didn't say I was actually going to do this but I can't bear the thought of my nephew being put in foster care when I am perfectly capable of taking care of him."

"But you have plans and dreams."

"Jimmy, I'm not dying; I can still support myself. I just don't want my nephew to rot in some foster care home where no one ever notices him. I want what's best for the poor kid."

"Does this poor kid have a name?" Rizzo asked.

Anna shook her head. "She just calls him 'it' or 'the problem.' I saw her when I took Danny and Kelly home on my way to pick you boys up this morning. He was lying on the couch screaming and she was yelling at him to be quiet. Thankfully, Herb came in and took care of the baby."

"Herb is good with babies?" Rizzo asked.

"He was good with his own children. He might seem gruff and angry but he's a completely different person with his family. He's no saint but he does love his children."

"I just can't see the Herb Brooks I know being a loving, devoted family man."

She smiled. "Rizzo, you're having a different experience of Herb than you would have had if you'd played for him at Minnesota. He really can be friendly. He used to have his players over for dinner on a regular basis."

"Really? Why'd he stop?"

She shrugged. "I think he wants this team to be different from any other team he's ever coached. Think about it. He's training you differently than anyone else. He wants to beat the Russians. This isn't just a game to Herb; this is about 1960."

"What happened?" I asked. I'd heard something about it but I couldn't really remember.

"He was the last man cut from the 1960 team. He's in the team pictures but he never got to play in the Olympics. The 1960 team beat the Russians; he wants to beat the Russians."

"No one's beaten the Russians since 1960," Rizzo protested.

"And Herb wants to change that."

"That's what all of this is about?" Jimmy asked. "The man is insane."

Anna nodded. "I know. But he has a dream and he has a goal."

That night, Anna and I were sitting in her apartment talking. "What's going to happen to your nephew?"

"Abby left town this afternoon. The baby is at my parents' house and my mom's going to take care of him for a little while. We'll see how things go with time."

"Does the little guy have a name yet?"

She shook her head. "Mom is calling him wee Willie Winkie."

"Oh really? Maybe we should give him a real name."

"You should meet him before you name him."

"Could I meet him sometime?"

"Next weekend," she promised me. "Now I need to get you back to the dorms so you aren't exhausted at practice tomorrow morning. Herb doesn't know about us yet so we can't let the cat out of the bag just yet."

"So I have to get to bed at a reasonable hour and avoid the fact that I've been out at your apartment for the past three hours?"

She kissed my cheek. "Yes, Jackie boy, I'd really love it if you could be a good boy for me."

I kissed her and then climbed off the couch. "Well then, if you'll drive me back to my accommodations, I'll go back to pretending to be a nice, single hockey player."

"Hey now, you have a girlfriend."

"But I'm not supposed to tell anyone about her."

"You can tell people you have a girlfriend, just don't tell people who she is."

"So can I tell people I have a gorgeous Irish girlfriend back home?"

"If you so desire," she replied, kissing me again. "You can call this little apartment home if you like. You're just not allowed to spend the night here or anything."

"Then I guess it's time for me to leave," I said, standing up and grabbing my jacket.

I walked into the dorm to find Mac lying on his bed watching TV. "Where have you been?"

"I was out with a girl," I replied.

"Oh really? Was she pretty?"

I thought of Anna sitting on the couch wearing blue jeans and a new black tank top. "Yeah, she was pretty good looking."

"How'd you meet her?"

"We were in a bar one night and we really hit it off."

"Oh okay," he said before going back to the TV. "Just make sure you bring her by some night to meet the guys."

"I'll see what I can do."

A/N: I know it took a long time to get this one posted, but enjoy it and please review. And let me know what you think I should do about Anna's nephew.


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